With its stone arches, the Pakenham Bridge is the one of its kind in North America . Built in 1901, it replaced a rickety wooden structure, The old bridge was so unsafe that it was illegal to cross “at a faster pace than a walk”. Designed by the firm if O’Toole and Kearing, the new 85-metre bridge is made up of five 25-metre stone arches on piers that are 3 metres thick. The huge stones for the bridge were dragged from a nearby quarry. The largest stone is 3 metres long by nearly a metre square, and weights 5 tonnes.

In 1984, Ontario’s ministry of Transportation along with the Ontario Heritage Foundation and Ottawa’s National Capital Commuission, restroed the bridge, inserting reinforced concrete into the deck and parapet walls in the stonework. Framed by its wooded limestone shoreline, the bridge is a popular subject for photographers and artist.

Pakenham village itself is also worth a visit. Ont he main street, only a short distance from the bridge, are businesses such as Byrne House Hardware, housed in a mid 1800’s Classical Revivial building; paddye Mann Designs in an 1830’s stone building; and Ontario’s “oldest” general store contains crafts, memorabilia and freshly naked breads, as well as the usual range of grocery items. On the opposite side of the bridge, the Stone Bridge shop operates from a converted 1842 gristmill.